The present invention relates to devices for holding beverage containers, and particularly to a holder constructed of flexible sheet material for holding beverage cups and soft drink cans, and particularly adapted for use in motor vehicles.
It is often desirable to have beverages within reach in containers from which they can be drunk by the operator of a motor vehicle. Nevertheless, it is often clumsy and may be dangerous for the operator of such a motor vehicle to hold a beverage container in his hand.
Particularly when a beverage is purchased along with food in drive-in restaurants, it is desirable to be able to place the beverage container in a holder which will prevent it from spilling in a motor vehicle, thereby damaging upholstery or clothing or causing distraction which might be dangerous to the operation of a motor vehicle. It may be desirable at other times to be able to carry a beverage container on one's person without encumbering one's hands.
Whorton U.S. Pat. No. 3,031,162 discloses a device for holding beverage containers in motor vehicles. The Whorton carrier is adjustable in size and is assembled of folded sheet material, but is more complex than is desirable.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,104,788 Wood and 2,979,301 Reveal disclose holders for cups which include strips of sheet material which wrap around a frusto-conical cup to hold it. Reveal discloses a cup holder including a tab which may be inserted into an appropriate one of a series of slots extending circumferentially of the cup, while Wood discloses a holder having a notched tab which fits through a central hole to form a pair of cup holding loops side by side, with the circumference of each loop being determined by choice of the appropriate notch.
While the cup holders disclosed by Whorton and Reveal are useful to some extent for holding a cup safely in an automobile, none of the prior art known to the applicant discloses a holder which at the option of the user is useable either to hold a beverage container attached securely to the door of a motor vehicle, or to hold it stably in some other location, such as resting on the passenger seat of a vehicle, in a way which will prevent spillage of a beverage from the container.
What is desired then, is a holder for beverage containers and the like which is inexpensive enough to be given away with sales of beverages in disposable containers, which can be shipped and stored in a compact form, which is easily assembled for use, and which can be securely attached to a commonly available location within an automobile or on one's person to hold an open container securely enough to avoid spillage, yet allow the container to be picked up so that the beverage can be drunk. It is also desirable to provide such a beverage container holder which will accept beverage containers of different sizes.